What We're Reading Now

Entries tagged with: Happiness

11 April 2011

Rachel found herself smiling many times while reading The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor. For such a long and serious-sounding subtitle, the book makes a fairly simple point — happiness matters.

Rachel got more happiness out of her vacation by reading The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin. (When a book has both pleasure and purpose, that's a good thing.)

In her review of all (or most) things happiness-related, Rachel read The Optimism Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain by Tali Sharot. Turns out a rosy outlook serves us well in more ways than one.

As a long-time fan of Kermit and his friends, Rachel appreciated nearly everything about the recent theatrical release of The Muppets. In between the singing and dancing and having fun, these fuzzy creatures give us something to think about.

Michelle read Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change by Timothy D. Wilson. This self-described non-self-help book reminded her that life is all about stories, and that it might be time for many of us to start telling some new ones.

Allison read the cover of USA Today and learned about some troubling new research on the link between lack of sleep and stroke risk. Perhaps this is the data that will convince people they need more than six hours of sleep a night.

Allison read Jane Brody’s A Richer Life by Seeing the Glass Half Full from the 5 May 2012 New York Times and was glad a friend sent the blog post her way (the Allison Partners team likes adding to our Happiness Matters resources list).

Allison read Matt Richtel’s Vacation Sabotage: Don’t Let It Happen to You! from the 29 June 2012 New York Times and was relieved to learn some practical tips for helping her clients actually enjoy vacation so they can return to work rested and restored.

Use Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Insights to Take Better Care of Yourself

7 August 2012

Allison read a list of ways to take better care of ourselves using MBTI preference insights created by a group of course participants. Our clients often know exactly what they need to do for themselves and this time was no exception.

Allison read Chris Jones' article, All atwitter, from the 17 September issue of ESPN The Magazine and enjoyed a funny story about Atlanta Braves' third basemen, Chipper Jones, and his foray into the Twittersphere. This short read is jam packed with lessons about love of the game, letting go and even how to use Twitter.

Allison read The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America by David Whyte and was reminded to worry a little less about failure and to believe in herself a little more.

Allison read Think yourself well from the December 8th 2012 issue of The Economist and was glad to learn about compelling research on the connection between positive emotions and healthier bodies as well as actions you can take to increase your vagal tone (turns out we need more than just muscle tone).

Allison read The Power of Concentration from the 15 December 2012 issue of The New York Times and appreciated Maria Konnokova’s summary of the many benefits of mindfulness including a better way to get stuff done like Sherlock Holmes.(By starting with just six minutes of mindfulness, Allison got this week's blog post written faster than usual, too.)